The Pig
Duc Truffe (more commonly known as "The Pig") was an antagonist in the Stronghold series, and one of AI opponents in Stronghold Crusader. Biography When the Pig was abused and starved by his father at a young age for his physical deformity (squashed nose and pointed ears) as such he ran away as soon as able and joined a group of bandits in the backcountry. Proving himself strongest and most cunning among them. He rose to lead the band and began taking the best foods from each raids. He took to overeating, and as a result became morbidly fat. It is unknown how The Wolf convinced the king to make the bandit into a Duke. But a duke he became, becoming The Wolf's enforcer on the battlefield. While still not that bright, he is relentlessly aggressive, and displays a low cunning for which he becomes infamous in the games. He was given control of the kingdom's breadbasket, where he proved a capable, though brutish, administrator. After killing a number of high ranking people during the war, including Lord Woolsack , a bishop, and an unknown lord. He was eventually brought to justice by the player and is later seen in flashbacks tied to a post a shot full of arrows. He was survived by two sons who took their titles from the men he had killed Earl Hogsfoot, and Bishop Redham. Both as greedy, and brutish as their father. They sided with The Wolf when they discovered how and by whom their father was killed. They were eventually captured. When talking to the player, he is usually eating, and his grasp of English is not very good. He is vindictive and has little patience with fools. He is somewhat afraid of The Wolf and is often bullied by The Snake. His main units are crossbowmen and macemen. Character Lacking any concept of etiquette the Pig is usually seen picking his nose or scratching his crotch in plain view of the public. The brute is seldom seen without a cooked animal carcass of some description in one grubby hand and during negotiations he takes delight in ripping off bits of its flesh with his free hand to cram into his mouth. The Pig rarely speaks unless he is barking an order so may appear to onlookers as less than bright. However, underestimating him on the battlefield is likely to prove fatal. As a whole the Pig is a greedy leader who places unreasonable taxes on his people. The Pig has a good sense of humour much like the Rat, but when under attack, he becomes flustered very quickly. He also enjoys singing, although he is not very good at it. The Pig is not usually cruel to his workers, however his greed can lead to frustrations about their production levels, and if this happens, he can be. Strategies and Castles Stronghold In Stronghold the Pig is a considerably more difficult opponent than he ever is in Stronghold Crusader. In one mission the Pig sends pikemen along with macemen and crossbowmen and catapults to siege the player's castle. His personal castle is also a trademark of superior design, containing several types of towers manned by archers enjoying the benefit of braziers and crossbowmen. Pikemen are responsible for the defense of the inner courtyard. The castle itself is surrounded by killing pits and flame pits. The Pig, ‘Duc Truffe’ is the third lord to be killed in the campaign. Stronghold Crusader In Crusader, the Pig remains a very aggressive and brutal enemy. His agile troops may prove troublesome and his economy is not that bad. Economy The Pig has a decent, yet simple economy. He emphasizes on iron, but he gathers stone and pitch as well. He produces only cheese, but buys apples and bread regularly to have a small variety of food. His two granaries are usually full of food and so his people rarely go hungry. He has average taxes and normally no Fear Factor. Sometimes, he may construct a few gallows for a small production boost. He produces weapons and buys them when lacking. Offense The Pig has a small variety of troops, but he likes harassment just as much as attacking. Every now and then he sends hordes of macemen to level any buildings, backed up with a catapult sometimes. When attacking, he uses the same constitution backed up with a few crossbowmen and engineers. In the first few attacks he constructs catapults, later battering rams join. His amassed macemen will destroy any structures quickly, while the siege engines provide a good chance to create a breach and overwhelm the enemy lord. He also particularly likes to throw diseased cows (which he obtains from his many dairy farms) to make his enemies troops lose health. If he has enough macemen he will attack in two stages. Defense The Pig has straightforward rectangular castles with a perimeter low wall. Indeed it is more like a military camp than a castle, and he relies much more on his troops than his walls to defend it. He has square towers on the sides, surrounded by thick, high walls, which station crossbowmen. There is one entrance into the castle, which has killing pits. Pits are also located at stairs and chokepoints. Macemen are guarding the keep's entrance. He reacts with a small force of crossbowmen and macemen when under attack. Macemen attack besiegers in huge numbers if the wall is breached. Interestingly, if he is running out of gold and doing very badly, he may destroy his square towers. This can leave the crossbowmen locked inside a low stone wall and rendering them completely useless. If you are his ally, you will need to help him by giving him a large amount of stone so he can rebuild his towers. If you are his enemy, of course, the Pig's stupidity of locking his own crossbowmen in makes killing the lord much easier. How to deal with Defense The Pig uses fast troops, rendering ballistae and mangonels useless. However, they will stop when they start removing walls. A good number of crossbowmen are the key here, along with some fire ballistae. They can deplete their health very quickly and they work quite well against siege equipment too. Hostile crossbowmen are removed before they can even sling a shot on you. If the macemen reach your walls, placing slingers alongside your archers or crossbowmen on your walls is surprisingly effective in dealing with them. Offense The stronghold of the Pig is easy to siege. A good number of fire ballistae can remove the crossbowmen or use mass catapults to crumble the few towers and the gatehouse he has. Mass horse archers work too, but they are likely to suffer high casualties from the penetrating bolts. After the exterior is cleared, light up buildings so the macemen will trap into the flames. One or two dummy units may draw macemen from the keep, to maximize efficiency. Then you should perform an easy kill. Don't use Arab swordsmen, even at this late stage as if the Pig manages to create a few crossbowmen for his keep, they will suffer high casualties. Quotes As player's enemy: *Upon attacking: Blow the horn, bang the drum, the Pig is coming to town! *Failed attack : Wwwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhh.......I am mad, I will smash you too pieces, into little bitsy pieces!!! *Attacked by player : Pig, Pig... Pig not like this, maybe Pig in trouble? *Panicking : What is wrong? What is happening to me? *Killed by player : No, Pig not die... no,no,no! *Kills player : Pig wins again, get ready to die! *Player fails an attack : ''I win, I win, I win... (Eating) No one beats the Pig! '' Navigation ru:Кабан Category:Characters